CIHR Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health
View the archived Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health (2025) funding opportunity on ResearchNet. Funding results for this opportunity are anticipated in Spring 2026.
The goal of this funding opportunity is to build research capacity, generate new knowledge, and support knowledge mobilization in human development, child and youth health by funding operating grants to early career researchers.
This annual competition advances IHDCYH’s Capacity Building priority and is a core component of the Institute’s Career Pathway, a suite of recurring funding opportunities designed to strengthen capacity in human development, child and youth health research. It addresses a community-identified need for smaller grants that build track records, enable access to larger funding, and support the transition to independent research careers.
Objectives
- Support early career researchers in initiating and conducting independent research in human development, child and youth health with the goal of building research capacity in this important health research area.
- Generate new knowledge that will contribute to improving human development, child and youth health outcomes, promote health equity, and increase our understanding of the challenges, needs and current gaps in this research area.
- Facilitate knowledge exchange and translation between early career researchers and other stakeholders in human development, child and youth health.
Important Dates
- Registration Deadline: November 18, 2025
- Application Deadline: December 16, 2025
- Anticipated Notice of Decision: June 24, 2026
- Funding Start Date: April 1, 2026
2026
Pre-Announcement
This funding opportunity is led by the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH), in partnership with the CIHR Institutes of Indigenous Peoples Health (IIPH), Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA), and Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD).
Funds available
- The total amount available from CIHR for the 2026 funding opportunity is $1,950,000, enough to fund up to 13 grants.
- The maximum amount per grant from CIHR is $50,000 per year for up to 3 years for a total of $150,000.
Important Dates
Please note, these timelines are estimates and subject to change.
- Launch: Spring 2026
- Application Deadline: Fall 2026
2024
Congratulations to the 18 recipients of the 2024 Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health grants.
General Pool
- Kathryn Birnie A, Justine C Balsicas, and Ripudaman Minhas, University of Calgary – Ensuring Access to Culturally Tailored Solutions for Pain in Children: A Partnership to Meet the Needs of Filipino Children and their Families in Canada
- Meredith Brockway, University of Calgary – DOnor milk to REpair the MIcrobiome in full-term infants born via Cesarean Section (DO-RE-MI C-Section)
- Gregory Costain, Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) – Developing long-read genome sequencing as a clinical genetic test for infantile epilepsy
- Leandra Desjardins, Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (Montréal, Québec) – Pilot Implementation of Family Psychosocial Screening in Pediatric Oncology Clinical Care
- Michelle C Dimitris, Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia) – Exploring Differences in the Timing of Prenatal Care Initiation in Canada: A Multi-Province Investigation of Gestational Age at First Prenatal Visit and Ultrasound
- Mallory L Downie, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre – Multi-omics for precision medicine in paediatric steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome
- Peter J Gill, Francine Buchanan, and Sanjay Mahant, Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) – Dexamethasone vs. Placebo in Children and Youth Hospitalized for Orbital Cellulitis (DOC): a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial
- Elizabeth M Keys, University of British Columbia – The SLeep solUtions to proMote Better Early childhood Relationships (SLUMBER) Program: Development of a program to helping families optimize infant mental health by supporting sleep health in early childhood
- Jennifer E Khoury, Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax) – Pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic: Continuing a longitudinal study examining the impact of chronic prenatal stress on child biopsychosocial outcomes at ages 5 and 6
- Pan Liu, University of Alberta – Within-person dynamics between adolescent social media use and internalizing symptoms and their associations with between-person differences in emotional development
- Zihang Lu and Kozeta Miliku, Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario) – Leveraging Interpretable Machine Learning Approaches to Improve the Health of Children with Multimorbidity
- Giulia Muraca, McMaster University – Generating evidence to enhance equity-focused prevention and care for obstetric trauma
- Amanda Raffoul, University of Toronto – Promoting positive mental health through school food policy and curriculum: A youth-engaged investigation
- Wissam Shalish, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre – Detection and Differentiation of Respiratory Events using Acoustic Monitoring in extremely preterm infants (DREAM): a diagnostic accuracy study
Human Development, Child and Youth Health for Equity-Deserving Groups
- Cristina M Longo and Sonia Grandi, Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (Montréal, Québec) – A Rigorous Evaluation of ASthma biologic Safety and effectiveness Using REal world data on pregnant MOMS and their children (REASSURE-MOMS)
- Esli Osmanlliu, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre – Co-designing an artificial intelligence-enabled CHatbot to Assist the Management of Pediatric patients (CHAMP) with common infections
Indigenous Human Development, Child and Youth Health
- Oluwatomilayo O Daodu, University of Calgary – Improving Pediatric Surgery Access for Rural and Indigenous Children in Alberta: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Geographic Distribution, Outcomes, and Barriers to Care Through Data-Driven Strategies and Indigenous-Led Research Pathways
- Andrea Evans, Ashley L Quinn, Nicole M Racine, and Nico Trocme, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute Inc – CanFos: Improving the Health of Canadian First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Children in Foster Homes
Contact Information
For information about the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health CIHR Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health Initiative, please contact:
- Date modified: